Empire – Auriga (2008)

This two member band from Michigan plays something close to industrial and ambient, and while some other reviews and the promo sleeve say’s they have some Black Metal influences I fail to hear them. The vocals sound a bit Black Metal, but other than that there is nothing else. The album it self is a weird trip into outer space or somewhere in between.

Auriga features seven tracks of synthesizers, and guitars and a drum machine. While there are many interesting Industrial Black Metal bands, their music does not sound like this band at all. The overall atmosphere of the album is quite interesting and tense, but it just stays like that, I think it fails to deliver something that it’s building up to.

While musically this album is far superior than Rituale Satanum and By the Blessing of Satan, like I previously mentioned, the vocals are pretty … lame for a lack of a better word. While they are still black metal like, they are missing all the elements that made this band stand out in the past. It sounds like Torog lost his voice before recording the album or something.

Other than the problem with the vocals, the release is very solid. From beginning to the end, the album engages the listener into Behexen’s music and doesn’t let go. I have to note that the last song “My Stigmas Bleeding Black” is the best one of this album, probably because of the light use of keyboards.

Country: USA